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Tennessee’s sweet sixteen run came to a bitter end Friday night with a 71-73 loss to the Michigan Wolverines.
Though it won its last two contests against UMASS and Mercer by 19 and 20 points, respectively — thanks in part to its stingy defense — Tennessee allowed Michigan to shoot nearly 62 percent from the field, including 7-9 from behind the 3-point line, and take an 11-point lead into halftime. Tennessee’s inability to stop the ball on the perimeter opened things up for the Wolverine offense.
“I think the first half we were kind of playing soft defense,” Josh Richardson said. “We let them get through and get to the rack whenever they wanted. And I mean, it was creating open looks from the 3 because guys had to step down to help.”
Despite the double-digit deficit, one that balloned to as many as 15 in the second half, the Vols climbed their way back into the game and found themselves with the ball, down just one with 10.8 seconds remaining on the clock. But a charging call on Vol big man Jarnell Stokes extinguished Tennessee’s comeback chances.
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“No. No, I don’t think I fouled him,” Stokes said. “But it was a smart play for him to try to take the charge. He pretty much anticipated it.”
“I thought he (Stokes) made a good move,” Cuonzo Martin said. “The official called a charge.”
Fellow bruise brother Jeronne Maymon was limited due to early foul trouble, but before that, Glenn Robinson, Jr., did his best to negate Maymon and Tennessee’s size advantage down low by extending the defense and attacking off the dribble. Martin countered with Armani Moore, a move that helped get the Vols back into the game.
“Well, what we did more when Jeronne got in foul trouble, we went with Armani Moore at the 4 spot, a better perimeter defender than the other guy we had in the game,” Martin said. “I thought it really helped us set a tone, more of a physical tone with Armani on the floor.”
Jordan McRae led the Vols with 24 points on 9-18 shooting and added six rebounds and four blocks. Fellow wing Josh Richardson added 19 points on an efficient 9-14 shooting.
Though McRae shot 50 percent from the field, he missed each of the four 3-pointers he shot along with five of his eleven free throw attempts. As a team, Tennessee hit just 3 of the 11 3-pointers it attempted and left six points on the table in missed free throws.
“I mean, regardless of the outcome, we played hard. And it was a huge comeback for us. But the feeling right now, you just can’t really be happy after that.”